2011-11-20 - Medics!
The docks of New York Harbor are far more likely to see passenger traffic than cargo these days, but that does not mean that no cargo comes through here, just far less than in decades past. The port docks are still quite active, neverhteless, at nearly all hours of the day and night. Mixed into that activity at the moment is a silent invisible form watching over a small cargo tanker that has just arrived. The Namibian-registry vessel is unloading quite an array of raw material goods of various sorts, destined for all sorts of customers up and down the American east coast. So too, the ship will be loaded down heavily with goods needed by those in the African nations served by the veseel. No one down on the docks knows - or should know, at least - that amongst the cargo being unloaded is a small supply of rare plants and herbs, destined for a small StormDyne Applied Sciences research lab. Or that one of the large shipments ready to be loaded on that ship later tonight is in fact a very, very sizeable shipment of drugs, medicines and medical gear being supplied by StormDyne. But these are the reasons why this silent sentinel is watching. Panacea would be able to locate the invisible guardian, if she was paying attention to that rather than the shady group of young men she's watching from a nearby rooftop. Panacea isn't *sure* they're dealing drugs, but she's sure they're *using* drugs and probably...yeah. But so far, she hasn't seen anything that warrants beating them up, more's the pity. Unaware of the other heroine present, the invisible form watching over the docks is more focused on that ship and what is coming on and off of it. Which means she is looking in exactly the right direction when a bright yellow pod-like vessel drops down out of the night sky onto the concrete docks, its lowering gate disgorging eight beekeeper-suited AIM troops with fancy-looking weapons. Even as said invisible guardian is leaping onto a platform no one can see and directing it to rapidly carry her across to the action, the AIM troops have fired gas grenades, stunning and disorienting the dockworkers, and two of them are moving around with scanners swiping the codes on the containers nearby. They're looking for something in particular. Panacea narrows her eyes. The junkies are promptly forgotten. Actually, the junkies are showing the better part and running. The young heroine is moving for the edge. Hrm. Okay. Non-lethal gas attack and what's with the yellow beekeeper suits? Thse villains have absolutely NO fashion sense WHATSOEVER. Of course, this event is anything but subtle, and does eventually draw the attention of the dock security patrols, who close in and try to fire on the AIM troopers. This brings out some of the other weapons they're carrying, and beams of heated plasma erupt, blowing up cars with devastating shrapnel effect upon the men who had been using them for cover. The other two agents continue their search through the cargo. Seeing these attacks, the Invisible Woman throws up a barrier in front of the next two dock patrol vehicles, so that the next shots aimed there bounce off, instead striking cargo containers or the ground. A small fire is started, but nothing explodes and no one is immediately harmed. The AIM troopers immediately start scanning the area, clearly aware that some sort of metahuman involvement has taken place. Lacking the ability to fly, Panacea is going to take a couple of moments to get down to street level. As she does so, she reaches out to check on the injured security personnel...are any of them in immediate danger of dying? That is, as always, her absolute priority. Interestingly enough, while Panacea is sweeping the area telepathically to check on folks, she may well become aware of another mind - one where there does not appear to be a body - that is just as concerned about those injured security personnel as she is, and is already mentally reciting a litany of the possible medical cases they might present and necessary treatments. The fires started from their vehicles gutter and snuff out for no apparent reason, while that mental signature stays still, atop one of the cargo containers very close to the AIM troopers. What Panacea can detect of the security guards indicates the two of them are in quite bad shape. One is badly burned, in terrible pain. The other appears to have been speared by pieces of hot shrapnel. It's not a good situation. The AIM troopers sweep the area, looking for trouble, and two of their number finally finish scanning the barcodes on the shipping containers. "Over here!" they shout, and the AIM troopers start to move, covering the dock security patrol but not firing again - last time didn't work out so well. Hrm. Not only an invisible person, but an invisible doctor. << Can you handle the bad guys, because I don't think I can without getting shot, >> she sends to that mind...with the way the woman is thinking she HAS to be a good guy...even as she moves towards the fallen security guards, quite stealthily. The Invisible Woman whips her head about suddenly, her mind registering alarm and confusion at the 'voice' she is suddenly hearing. Finding no one, she pauses, considering something. Then, she tries to focus her thoughts. << I do not know if this will work. But ... yes. I believe I can handle them. But I cannot do more than hold them off if I have to treat those men, and they need help badly from the looks of things. >> She has encountered a telepath before, though only once before. It still startles the heck out of her. The AIM troopers close in on the identified container as the Invisible Woman moves in as well, surrounding them with an invisible dome to contain the threat they might offer others. It means the other security guards can't shoot them, but it also means they can't shoot the security guards, which is more to her concern right now. Unaware that they have been trapped, the AIM troopers tear open the container and head inside to fetch whatever it is they came for, while the others remain fanned out, weapons pointed in every direction against possible counter-attack. Right now they have no idea they have already been 'boxed in', as it were. << I'm on it. >> Hopefully, Panacea will not be seen as she approaches the two downed men, reaching out to assess which one is the most urgently harmed. << You worry about the bad guys. >> There's absolute confidence in her tones...as Susan has yet to see her, she might get a surprise if she realizes the healer's a teenaged girl. The Invisible Woman has no way to assess that the mindvoice she is hearing is that of a teenaged girl, anymore than Pancea has much of any idea what this invisible doctor heroine looks like, beyond 'invisible'. With the fires of both destroyed vehicles squelched, there is nothing to really give Panacea away for now, so she passes unnoticed by anyone except perhaps the other dock security patrol guys as she moves in on the injured. The one with the burns is bad off, to be sure, but likely has minutes to live, at least. The one perforated by super-heated shrapnel, on the other hand, is likely to bleed out in less than a minute at his current rate. With the AIM troopers contained, the Invisible Woman has to re-assess what to do about them. She can already tell that they came for the very things she was here to protect. That makes it doubly important that they not get away, and that the goods they're here to steal are not lost and /do/ get where they are meant to go. She raises the dome she has created, steps inside, and closes it behind her. The first clue the AIM troopers have that something is wrong is when one of their number cries out and crumples down, his facemask distorting around an invisible fist that is a good few times larger than Sue's own. They all jump and turn, two of them firing on the spot where they assume the attacker to be. Instead, they see those shots splash across the inside of an invisible barrier that seems to outline what could only be a very large circular dome ... surrounding them. The next few minutes are quite a mess, as they proceed to try to blast their way out, first by shooting in every direction, which gives everyone a darned good idea of the size and impregnability of that dome. Then they concentrate their fire, trying to blast through at a particular point. It's quite the fireworks display. Which means she has to get both of them stabilized as quickly as possible. First...stop the bleeding on security guard #2. Even with a combination of psionic healing and mundane training, this is not going to be easy...and it's going to take every bit of Panacea's concentration to get him stabilized quickly enough to get to the second guy in time. All she can do is make sure they live and hope she has time to tidy things up later. Though she is ignoring it, Pancea would easily be able to hear the firestorm erupting at her back, and the light shed by all that flame and explosion. Yet she will not feel even one iota more heat at her back. She is completely protected, and so are her patients. Inside the dome, the Invisible Woman has to choose her openings carefully. She is diverting a great deal of concentration to holding that dome, so she has little to spare for counter-attacking. She makes do with a simple 'gauntlet' about her fist, using the surprise of her invisibility to her advantage as she strikes around the periphery, taking out one AIM trooper at a time. This has the benefit of reducing also the firepower they can direct against her shield, which makes it easier to maintain the more of them she disables. Without that protection...these men would die. Her focus is absolute...making sure they live. Making sure the shrapnel is no longer inside the man's body. Of course, the other dock security can see her. With the full mask, her youth is a little harder to determine, but it's still somewhat visible. By the time Panacea is finishing up with one patient and moving on to the burn victim, the sound of those blasts behind her has faded off. Eventually, the Invisible Woman has downed each of the agents. When Panacea is finished - and likely exhausted - the stolen goods have been returned. The Invisible Woman then scoops up the AIM troopers and drops them in front of the dock security patrol. "Excuse me, gentlemen. I believe you will want to detain them. I believe your compatriots will survive, thanks to that young lady's assistance. Now, if you will excuse us, we should go. When the police ask, you can tell them the Invisible Woman was here to help." Finally, that presence is behind Panacea, checking on her patients. "I don't know how you've done this. But thank you. You saved these men's lives." "Probably in a similar way to how you're invisible." Which is the occam's razor, horses not zebras explanation for why she can't see her. "They still need a fair bit of healing, though." She does seem young...but clearly she was using some kind of superpower to patch these men back up. "Probably so. I've just never seen anything like it." The Invisible Woman (doctor) offers. "Still, thank you. Is there any way I can help you to help them? I am sure you have no more desire to stay and speak with the authorities than I do." "You're a doctor." Not a question. "I trust you to lend a hand, but you're right, i want to be gone when the cops get here." Or maybe the invisible woman can make other people invisible too. Would be nice. "I don't think I can do anything that would be sufficiently helpful to warrant the increased risk of infection in the timeframe we have given our facilities." The Invisible Woman advises. "Nevertheless, I can do one thing: keep working as long as you can. I assure you they will never see you, and I can carry you safely out of here when you're ready to go." "I appreciate that." She really does, too, turning back to focus on her patients. The promise of being carried out means she can tire herself out without needing to be afraid of waking up in a cell with her mask removed, after all. When the authorities arrive, a few minutes later, the Invisible Woman's hands close gently around Panacea's shoulders, pulling her onto a platform she can feel but cannot see. "Just lie down and relax. You're sae, and they cannot see you." That said, the platform lifts up into the air and flies away, leaving the docks behind. It probably does not stop until they are quite a few blocks away, settling on some shorter brownstone roof with an external fire escape, to make climbing down later far easier. Panacea seems pretty tired as Susan carries her out of there. She sits on the roof, breathing somewhat hard. "I thought I was going to lose one of them." Those were pretty bad injuries, and it's always a challenge when somebody's fading that *quickly*. "I understand. And I imagine that had to be very difficult. Both were severe trauma cases." The other woman's voice offers. Once Pancea is settled, a figure fades into invisibility, wrapped in a trenchcoat, a hat pulled low over brown hair, dark eyes beneath and a mask pulled up over neck and the lower face, up over the nose. "I don't know if it would help, but I have a couple of energy bars with me, if that would help your enegy recovery at all." "It's mostly an energy drain, but I wouldn't turn one down." Physical resources, after all, do have a certain connection to psionic ones. The now-visible woman reaches into a pocket, produces said energy bar, and offers it, along with a small bottle of water. It's lukewarm, but clean and pure. "From what I saw, and what I have read in the papers, I would assume you to be Pancea? Connected with Young Justice?" Panacea accepts both. "Yes." At least this woman seems to trust that she knows what she's doing despite her youth, not something Panacea can ever count on. "Are you the one who fixed Central Park?" "I am." the now-visible woman answers. "It seemed the least we could do, considering." By we, she seems to mean 'metas overall.' "I don't regret doing it, but it does seem to have piqued the interests of the Sentinels. That might not be healthy." "They'll probably try to recruit you. Me, they'd tell to go do my homework." Panacea makes a face. "Which I did already." Not that she's defensive, or...anything. "And try to register us both." the Invisible Woman adds, not sounding at all pleased about the idea. "I've met one. More than once. But meeting more than one, I imagine would be a different kettle." She smiles, though it's more visible in her eyes than anything given the mask over her lower face. "I am sure you have done your homework already. You seem like a very responsible young woman. And a hard worker." Panacea nods. "And I have reasons why I don't want to register." Reasons why she can't. Reasons why the government finding out that she exists might be a bad thing in and of itself. "As I have very good reasons why I have no desire to register." the Invisible Woman offers. For her, it would endanger others, including her company. She cannot allow that. "I know I'm just one person. But you can tell the others I applaud what your team has been doing. Keep up the good work." Panacea nods. "I'll let them know." And it would indeed endanger others. Her family, the students...not all of them combatant...in the hotel. There's a rueful tone to her voice as she says, "I'd offer you a way to get in touch, if you ever needed anything, but I haven't honestly worked that sort of thing out yet." She'll have to work at that. Maybe Janet will have some ideas? "It's not that big a city." And, of course, Panacea is a telepath. "I have a feeling we'll meet up again sooner or later." "True enough. And you, at least, have a team to call upon if you are in need of help." the Invisible Woman offers. "Still, it's something I should work out sooner rather than later. Do you need a ride to another part of the City? I know you're still tired, and I don't mind giving you a lift." Panacea shakes her head. "I'll be fine." It's almost a good thing she didn't have her skybike. "I'll rest up and then walk." Because, of course, leading strangers to HQ? Bad. "Alright, then. You take care of yourself." The Invisible Woman gives Panacea one long look, and then fades out again. The young Havenhim healer will be able to sense that mind as she walks up onto another platform and floats away across the city.